Village of Frankfort, Ill., works to quiet trains

Frankfort, Ill., trustees
this week hired an engineering firm to design safety devices at the village's
Canadian National Railway crossings, the Chicago Tribune reports. The $14,000
contract was awarded to Hamilton Consulting Engineers to plan and supervise
construction of safety features, such as lights and crossing gates, at the
street-level railroad crossings in Frankfort, Trustee Dick Trevarthan said. Six
of the crossings are public and one is privately owned.

The safety features are a
part of the village's plan to seek a quiet-zone designation that would require
trains traveling through the town to silence their whistles, according to Mayor
Jim Holland. To qualify as a quiet zone, "We have to make sure the
crossings are safe enough," Holland said.

If the plans are approved
by federal regulators by mid-April, the project could be completed within the
year, he said.

While most homeowners
along the CN tracks are looking forward to having a quiet zone, at least one
has concerns.

Roger Koenig said train
whistles are a safety device too. "The whistle is the last warning you're
ever going to get," Koenig said.